Cutting apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cutting apparatus for slicing and dicing produce, most particularly lettuce. Two blade frames, each including a plurality of serrated blades, are maintained in a horizontal position by a blade frame holder which is rigidly attached to a main frame. A horizontal pusher head is slidably attached to the main frame above the blade frame holder and is operable to be moved between a position distant from the blades and a position adjacent the blades. A handle mechanism is pivotally attached to the blade frame holder and, through a linkage bar, to the pusher head, so that rotation of the handle in a downward arc relative to the frame moves the pusher head in a vertical direction toward the blades. The blades in one of the two blade frames may be oriented parallel or perpendicular to the blades in the other blade frame to provide for either slicing or dicing of the lettuce.

United States Patent [1 Cohen et al.

[ CUTTING APPARATUS [75] Inventors: Morris Cohen; Evelyn V. Cohen,

both of Indianapolis, Ind.; Alfred M. Rubio, Chicago, Ill.

[73] Assignee: Model Builders, Inc., Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: May 6, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 466,957

[ Dec. 9, 1975 Primary ExaminerDonald R. Schran Attorney, Agent, orFirmWoodard, Weikart, Emhardt & Naughton ABSTRACT A cutting apparatusfor slicing and dicing produce, most particularly lettuce. Two bladeframes, each including a plurality of serrated blades, are maintained ina horizontal position by a blade frame holder which is rigidly attachedto a main frame. A horizontal pusher head is slidably attached to themain frame above the blade frame holder and is operable to be movedbetween a position distant from the blades and a position adjacent theblades. A handle mechanism is pivotally attached to the blade frameholder and, through a linkage bar, to the pusher head, so that rotationof the handle in a downward are relative to the frame moves the pusherhead in a vertical direction toward the blades. The blades in one of thetwo blade frames may be oriented parallel or perpendicular to the bladesin the other blade frame to provide for either slicing or dicing of thelettuce.

13 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 4 Piltfillt Dac. 9 1975 US.Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 2 of4 3,924,501

US. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 3 of4 3,924,501

FIG. 4

U.S. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet4 0f4 3,924,501

CUTTING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionThis invention is in the field of means for treating food.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the past, various cutting devices forvegetables and the like have been devised which utilize the principle offorcing the article to be sliced through a set of fixed blades. Suchdevices are disclosed in US. Pat. No. 893,591 to Larsen, US. Pat. No.2,621,691 to Brualdi, and British Patent No. 534,320 to Hall. Thesedevices disclose neither a lever-type handle nor tensioned serratedblade arrangement useful for effectively slicing and dicing lettuce orequivalent vegetables. US. Pat. No. 3,112,781 to Popeil shows a widelyrecognized device for slicing and dicing a variety of vegetables andother items, but the Popeil device lacks a sufficient blade structureand handle apparatus for providing the mechanical advantage for slicingand dicing lettuce. US. Pat. No. 2,153,407 to Bell shows a vegetabledicing, slicing and shredding machine which is sized and structured forheavier cutting, such as for lettuce, but requires the use of a footpedal which prevents its use in a convenient manner such as on a table.Further, the Bell device also fails to show means for obtaining a mechanical advantage for the force exerted in the cutting operation aswell as optimum blade structure for the cutting of produce such aslettuce.

There has been a need, in a variety of types of restaurants, for aconvenient and efficient means of slicing and dicing heads of lettucefor salads and other uses. A satisfactory device of this type wouldenable a restaurant owner to avoid the dangers of spoilage,discoloration, etc. of precut lettuce without requiring the expenditureof a great deal of time to slice and/or dice heads of lettuce by hand atthe restaurant itself.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In response to these needs and others, thepresent cutting apparatus has been provided according to the presentinvention. The apparatus may be sized to be operated on a work surfacesuch as a table, if desired, and includes a frame and a blade assemblysupported by the frame which includes a plurality of blades. Theapparatus further includes a pusher head slidably attached to the framewhich has a first position remote from the blade assembly and a secondposition adjacent the blade assembly, and also a handle pivotallycoupled to both the pusher head and the blade assembly and this handleis operable to move the pusher head between its first and secondpositions in response to angular movement of the handle relative to theframe.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cutting apparatusoperable to easily slice a head of lettuce with the exertion of arelatively small amount of force in the rotation of a handle pivotallyconnected to the apparatus.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention shall beapparent from the following detailed description and accompanyingfigures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anembodiment of the present invention in the opened position with aportion of the blades of the upper blade frame removed.

' FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a closedposition.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the pusher head of the embodiment ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of promoting anunderstanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now bemade to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific languagewill be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understoodthat no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended,such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device,and such further applications of the principles of the invention asillustrated therein being contemplated aswould normally occur to oneskilledin the art to which the invention relates.

Referring in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown a cutter apparatus 11according to the present invention. Cutter apparatus 1 1 has a frame 12which includes base portions 13 and 14. Slidably attached to frame 12 ispusher head 16. Pusher head 16 includes frame-receiving portions 17 and18 at either side, each of which include an opening therethrough toallow pusher head 16 to move along the vertical tubes of frame 12.

Blade frame holder 19 is rigidly attached at portions 21 and 22 to thetubing of frame 12 using conventional means. Supported within bladeframe holder 19 are blade frames 23 and 24, each blade frame including aplurality of parallel blades such as 26 and 27 respectively, as shall bedescribed more particularly-hereinafter. Blade frame holder 19 includesfour side walls such as 28 for restraining lateral movement of bladeframes 23 and 24 as well as a lower platform surface extending inwardfrom the bottom of the walls such as 28 for a short distance sufficientto support the blade frames. The bottom platform of blade frame holder19 may be keyed to receive notched blade frames to assure the properblade frame orientations within holder 19.

Cutting apparatus 11 further includes handle 29 which has side arms suchas 31 extending along the outside of each side of the blade frame holderand pusher head. Linkage bar 32 is pivotally attached to the pusher head16 at point 33 and also pivotally attached to side arm 31 of handle 29at point 34. The pivotal attachments are by conventional means such asbolts. Side arm 31 of handle 29 is also pivotally attached to the bladeframe holder 19 as shown more particularly in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG.5, side arm 31 is pivotally attached to shaft 37 by screw 36. Spring 38is mounted on shaft 37, one end of spring 38 being retained by holdingmember 39 which is attached to blade frame holder 19. The other end ofspring 38 engages arm 31 at point 41 as also shown in FIG. 1. As can beseen in FIG. 1, the movement of handle 29 in an arc downward willcompress spring 38, and spring 38 is selected such that the spring forceis sufficient to return handle 29 to its upright position from a loweredposition. Arm 42 on the side of apparatus 11 opposite from that of arm31 has analogous pivotal and spring connections Blade frame 24 is shownin greater detail in FIG. 4, it being understood that blade frame 23 isconstructed in a similar fashion and therefore only blade frame 24 shallbe discussed in detail. In FIG. 4, a plurality of blades such as 43 areshown in parallel relationship extending from one side of blade frame 24to the opposite side. Blade frame 24 is sealed or enclosed so that foodparticles will not have openings in which to accumulate. However, forillustrative purposes, portions of the surface of frame 24 have beenshown removed to illustrate the construction therein. As shown, rods 44and 46 are mounted in clearance slots in opposite sides of blade frame24. Blade 43 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 6, and it can be seenthat holes such as 47 are included in each end of the blade. Bars 44 and46 are positioned within holes such as 47 in each end of the blades ofthe blade frame 24. There are blade-thickness slots in the sides ofblade frame 24, such as in the area 48, which restrain lateral movementof the blades.

FIG. 7 shows a section of end bar 62 of blade frame 24. Rod 46, engagingthe hole in the end of blade 61, is enclosed within end bar 62. A sideof frame 24, within which rod 64 is fixed, is removed in FIG. 7,exposing rod 64, whose end is tapped to receive Allen head cap screw 65.Head portion 66 of screw 65 is retained in a cavity within end 62 but isfree to rotate. When all the blades in frame 24 have been engaged ateach end by rods 44 and 46, which are mounted within the end bars offrame 24, head 66 of screw 65 is positioned in its cavity in bar 62 witha portion of the threads of screw 65 already received within rod 64.Another Allen head cap screw is similarly engaged and positioned on theother end of bar 62. End bar 62, and the opposite end bar, are preformedin a curved configuration with the concave sides facing one another. Thecurvature of end bar 62 is shown somewhat exaggerated in FIG. 7 forillustrative purposes. After the blades and Allen head cap screws havebeen positioned as described above, tool 67 is used to rotate thescrews, such as 65, so as to move head portion 66 away from the rodssuch as 64. Since head portion 66 is retained in a cavity in bar 62, itsmovement away from rod 64 tends to move and straighten rod 62,tensioning the blades. Because rod 62, and the opposite end rod, areoriginally curved, and pressure is being applied to their ends, auniform tension is achieved for all of the blades when the end bars,such as 62, are straightened. As mentioned, once the blades are properlytensioned in the blade frame, the frame is sealed to cover areas ofpotential food-accumulation. The originally-curved end bars, such as 62,are chosen of an aluminum material such that the tension developed instraightening them does not exceed the elastic limit of the prestressedcurvature, thereby making them reusable, if desired.

In blade frames 23 and 24, the blades are spaced one inch apart.However, the blades in blade frame 24 are offset one-half inch from theblades of blade frame 23 when the two blade frames are superimposed.Upper blade frame 23 may be oriented with its blades parallel to thoseof blade frame 24 or, with a 90 rotation of frame 23, the blades offrame 23 may be oriented perpendicular to those of blade frame 24. Inthis fashion, the apparatus 11 is operable to produce either one-inchsquare diced portions of lettuce or one-half inch slices.

Returning again to FIG. 6, it should also be noted that blades such as43 include a serrated edge having teeth 49. These sharp points such as49 on each blade enable the blades to puncture the head of lettuceeasily when the lettuce is forced into the blades by pusher head 16 andalso provides a plurality of sloped cutting surfaces on each blade sothat as the lettuce is being forced downward onto the blades, there isalso some cutting action along the blade edges due to the slopes.

As shown in FIG. 3, pusher head 16, on its underside I 52, includes aplurality of projections such as 51. The projections are tapered asshown but essentially are sized at a two to one ratio to fit between theblades of blade frames 23 and 24 with the half inch spacing availablewhen all of the blades are parallel. When the cut-,- ting apparatus isoperated with the blade frames oriented so that the blades of each bladeframe are'perpendicular to those of the other blade frame, the widerside such as 53 of each of the projections is sized for the one inchspacing between the blades of upper blade frame 23. The projections inunderside 52 of pusher: head 16 are provided to effect pushing of theentire head of lettuce through the blades to avoid remnants of lettuceremaining between the blades after aslicing or dicing operation.

In performing a cutting operation, the pusher head 16 and handle 29 aremoved from the positions shown in FIG. 1 to those of FIG. 2. To dice ahead of lettuce, the blade frames 23 and 24 are arranged with the bladesof the respective blade frames in perpendicular relationship as shown inFIG. 1. A head of lettuce is placed generally in the central area of theblades of the top blade frame 23. The operator of cutting apparatus 11grips the top of frame 12 around handle 54 with one hand, and with theother hand, grips handle 29. With the apparatus in the position shown inFIG. 1, and with a head of lettuce resting toward the central area ofthe blade frames, the operator then pulls handle 29 downward and aroundblade frame holder 19 in an arc to the final position as shown in FIG.2. The lever action of handle 29 provides the operator with a mechanicaladvantage in applying force to pusher head 16 since the operator moveshandle 29 over a wide arc in order-to effect the shorter distance ofmovement of pusher head 16 from its position in FIG. 1 to that of FIG.2. I

In addition, linkage bar 32 cooperates with guide portions 17 and 18 ofpusher head 16 to maintain the downward force on pusher head 16essentially level and even since the downward force is applied along thevertical guide tubes of frame 12. As pusher head 16 .is forced downwardadjacent blade frame holder 19, the head of lettuce is easily forcedthrough the openings between the blades of blade frames 23 and 24, with.the final portions of lettuce being forced from between the blades bythe projections 51 on the underside of pusher head 16. The diced lettucemay be conveniently caught in a container placed beneath the apparatusfor that purpose.

The portions of diced lettuce obtained from the .operation describedabove are in one inch by one inch sections, and if the blades of bothblade frames are oriented in parallel with one another, there areprovided half inch slices of lettuce, due to the half-inch offset of theblades described above. From the position shown in FIG. 2, handle 29 isreturned to its upright position as shown in FIG. 1 when the handle isreleased by the operator due to the force exerted by springs 38 asdescribed above. The movement of handle 29 upward of course returnspusher head 16 toits raised position due to the force coupled throughlinkage bars 32. A catch or other locking means may be provided toretain handle 29 in its lowered position if desired when the apparatusis not in use.

While there have been described above the principles of this inventionin connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understoodthat this description is made only by way of example and not as alimitation in the scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

1. A cutting apparatus comprising:

a frame;

a blade assembly supported by the frame including a plurality of blades;

a pusher head slidably attached to the frame having a first positionremote from the blade assembly and a second position adjacent the bladeassembly, each blade of the plurality of blades having a serrated edgedirected toward the pusher head;

a handle pivotally coupled to both the pusher head and the bladeassembly and operable to move the pusher head between its first andsecond positions in response to angular movement of the handle relativeto the frame;

the blade assembly including a blade frame holder rigidly attached tothe frame and a first blade frame supported within the holder andincluding a plurality of blades;

the first blade frame including,

1. first and second originally-curved bars each includin g alongitudinal clearance slot and a plurality of blade thickness slotsessentially perpendicular to their associated clearance slot, the barsbeing oriented such that the originally-concave sides are facing oneanother,

2. first and second retaining rods positioned within the clearance slotof the first and second bars respectively, each blade of the pluralityof blades having a hole at each end which is engaged by one of theretaining rods within one of the bars, and

3. means for maintaining the first and second bars in an essentiallystraight configuration and for maintaining tension on the plurality ofblades.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the means for maintaining the firstand second bars comprises:

a rigid member attached at a first end to the first bar and including ata second end an opening;

a screw having a threaded portion received in threaded engagement withinthe opening at the second end of the rigid member and having a headportion retained within the second bar so as to prevent linear movementof the head portion relative to the second bar whereby rotation of thescrew effects variation of the distance between the first and secondbars.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the blade assembly furthercomprises a second blade frame supported within the blade frame holderwhich includes a plurality of blades, the second blade frame comprising:

first and second originally-curved bars each including a longitudinalclearance slot and a plurality of blade thickness slots essentiallyperpendicular to their associated clearance slot, the bars beingoriented such that the originally-concave sides are facing one another;

6 first and second retaining rods positioned within the clearance slotof the first and second bars respectively, each blade of the pluralityof blades having a hole at each'end which is engaged by one of theretaining rods within one of the bars; and means for maintaining thefirst and second bars in an essentially straight configuration and formaintaining tension on the plurality of blades.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which each blade of the plurality ofblades in each blade frame has a serrated edge directed toward thepusher head.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which the blade frame holder and pusherhead are each oriented in an essentially horizontal plane and themovement of the pusher head is in an essentially vertical direction.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the handle is operable to move in aforward are around the pusher head and blade frame holder, the handlebeing pivotally attached at a first point to the rear portion of theblade frame holder, and pivotally coupled to the pusher head.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 which further comprises a linkage barpivotally attached at a first end portion to the center of the pusherhead and pivotally attached at the second end portion to the handle,whereby rotation of the handle relative to the frame exerts alever-aided force upon the center of the pusher head through the linkagebar.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the handle has essentially similarpivotal connections and linkage bars on opposite sides of the pusherhead and blade frame holder.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the blade of the first blade frameare essentially parallel to one another and are spaced apart at one inchintervals.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 in which the blades in the second bladeframe are essentially parallel to one another, are spaced apart at oneinch intervals, and are offset one-half inch from the blades in thefirst blade frame when the second blade frame is superimposed upon thefirst blade frame.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 in which the second blade frame may beoriented within the blade frame holder such that the blades of thesecond blade frame are either perpendicular or parallel to the blades ofthe first blade frame.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 in which the pusher head includes aplurality of projections extending from the face of the pusher headnearest the blade frames, the projections being sized to extend betweenthe blades of the blade frames when the pusher head is in its secondposition adjacent the blade assembly.

13. An apparatus for cutting lettuce and similar produce comprising:

a frame having a base portion, a pair of essentially vertical guideposts, and an essentially horizontal platform above the base and betweenthe guide posts;

a blade assembly including a blade frame, received on the platform, anda plurality of blades mounted within the blade frame, the blades havingserrated edges directed generally upwardly for puncturing produce forcedagainst the blades;

a pusher head, slidably mounted on the guide posts of said frame abovethe platform, operable to be positioned adjacent said blade assembly orremote from said blade assembly;

biasing means for yieldably maintaining said pusher head remote fromsaid blade assembly;

8 the guide posts; and first and second linkage bars each pivotallyattached at a first end to said pusher head and at a second end to thefirst and second side arms respectively. 7

1. A cuttiNg apparatus comprising: a frame; a blade assembly supportedby the frame including a plurality of blades; a pusher head slidablyattached to the frame having a first position remote from the bladeassembly and a second position adjacent the blade assembly, each bladeof the plurality of blades having a serrated edge directed toward thepusher head; a handle pivotally coupled to both the pusher head and theblade assembly and operable to move the pusher head between its firstand second positions in response to angular movement of the handlerelative to the frame; the blade assembly including a blade frame holderrigidly attached to the frame and a first blade frame supported withinthe holder and including a plurality of blades; the first blade frameincluding,
 1. first and second originally-curved bars each including alongitudinal clearance slot and a plurality of blade thickness slotsessentially perpendicular to their associated clearance slot, the barsbeing oriented such that the originally-concave sides are facing oneanother,
 2. first and second retaining rods positioned within theclearance slot of the first and second bars respectively, each blade ofthe plurality of blades having a hole at each end which is engaged byone of the retaining rods within one of the bars, and
 3. means formaintaining the first and second bars in an essentially straightconfiguration and for maintaining tension on the plurality of blades. 2.first and second retaining rods positioned within the clearance slot ofthe first and second bars respectively, each blade of the plurality ofblades having a hole at each end which is engaged by one of theretaining rods within one of the bars, and
 2. The apparatus of claim 1in which the means for maintaining the first and second bars comprises:a rigid member attached at a first end to the first bar and including ata second end an opening; a screw having a threaded portion received inthreaded engagement within the opening at the second end of the rigidmember and having a head portion retained within the second bar so as toprevent linear movement of the head portion relative to the second barwhereby rotation of the screw effects variation of the distance betweenthe first and second bars.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which theblade assembly further comprises a second blade frame supported withinthe blade frame holder which includes a plurality of blades, the secondblade frame comprising: first and second originally-curved bars eachincluding a longitudinal clearance slot and a plurality of bladethickness slots essentially perpendicular to their associated clearanceslot, the bars being oriented such that the originally-concave sides arefacing one another; first and second retaining rods positioned withinthe clearance slot of the first and second bars respectively, each bladeof the plurality of blades having a hole at each end which is engaged byone of the retaining rods within one of the bars; and means formaintaining the first and second bars in an essentially straightconfiguration and for maintaining tension on the plurality of blades. 3.means for maintaining the first and second bars in an essentiallystraight configuration and for maintaining tension on the plurality ofblades.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which each blade of the pluralityof blades in each blade frame has a serrated edge directed toward thepusher head.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which the blade frame holderand pusher head are each oriented in an essentially horizontal plane andthe movement of the pusher head is in an essentially vertical direction.6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the handle is operable to move in aforward arc around the pusher head and blade frame holder, the handlebeing pivotally attached at a first point to the rear portion of theblade frame holder, and pivotally coupled to the pusher head.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6 which further comprises a linkage bar pivotallyattached at a first end portion to the center of the pusher head andpivotally attached at the second end portion to the handle, wherebyrotation of the handle relative to the frame exerts a lever-aided forceupon the center of the pusher head through the linkage bar.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7 in which the handle has essentially similar pIvotalconnections and linkage bars on opposite sides of the pusher head andblade frame holder.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 in which the blade ofthe first blade frame are essentially parallel to one another and arespaced apart at one inch intervals.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 inwhich the blades in the second blade frame are essentially parallel toone another, are spaced apart at one inch intervals, and are offsetone-half inch from the blades in the first blade frame when the secondblade frame is superimposed upon the first blade frame.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10 in which the second blade frame may be orientedwithin the blade frame holder such that the blades of the second bladeframe are either perpendicular or parallel to the blades of the firstblade frame.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 in which the pusher headincludes a plurality of projections extending from the face of thepusher head nearest the blade frames, the projections being sized toextend between the blades of the blade frames when the pusher head is inits second position adjacent the blade assembly.
 13. An apparatus forcutting lettuce and similar produce comprising: a frame having a baseportion, a pair of essentially vertical guide posts, and an essentiallyhorizontal platform above the base and between the guide posts; a bladeassembly including a blade frame, received on the platform, and aplurality of blades mounted within the blade frame, the blades havingserrated edges directed generally upwardly for puncturing produce forcedagainst the blades; a pusher head, slidably mounted on the guide postsof said frame above the platform, operable to be positioned adjacentsaid blade assembly or remote from said blade assembly; biasing meansfor yieldably maintaining said pusher head remote from said bladeassembly; a handle member having a handle rod extending transverse tothe guide posts and first and second side arms each extending from anopposite end of the handle rod and each being pivotally attached to theplatform of said frame near a different one of the guide posts; andfirst and second linkage bars each pivotally attached at a first end tosaid pusher head and at a second end to the first and second side armsrespectively.